Guardian Among the Stars
by River's Dream
Summary: Loosely tied to my other story Late Night Revelations. After an odd battle, River and Wash have another encounter.


Disclaimer - I do not own Firefly nor any who sail within her boundaries.

A.N. This is a completely unbeta'd story that popped into my head while I was attempting to write a paper for school and getting nowhere, any mistakes are mine. The Characters personalities are based within the timeline of my other stories and this is loosely linked with _Late Night Revelations_. Enjoy.

Faster and faster the attacks came, merciless and unrelenting in their assault against the vulnerable loner.

Something was wrong. This was supposed to be a safe harbour, a respite from the storm, not a place of ambush.

Why were former friends attacking with such vengeance? What great sin had been committed to warrant such level of betraying ambush?

Strategic retreat was the only option but where to go? Space was a harsh mistress and offered little in the way of safe cover.

There! It wasn't much but perhaps they would ignore such a small entity hiding amongst the stars and so she retreated into the corners of her mind.

Wash was exhausted. Following the captain's most recent "creative reinterpretation" of their plans which had resulted in Mal being confined to bed rest and Jayne loudly complaining in Simon's care for the foreseeable future, Wash had, once again, been called upon to get them all to safe harbour.

Not that Wash minded, aside from the loss of another night next to his wonderful wife. Flying was in his blood and Serenity and her crew has become his heart, though some had certainly carved out a larger portion than others. Wash was more than willing to go above and beyond to make sure his family was safe. However, a week of above and beyond flying had found Wash wearily seeking out yet another late night cup of coffee.

All the creative missions of late combined with a new push for the Tam's recovery from the Alliance meant that friendlies were becoming a rare commodity resulting in longer courses, harder flights, and less places for the crew to regroup. Thankfully, Sheppard had contacted a small missionary settlement that sounded like just the place for the space-weary crew to heal and who were eagerly anticipating the crew's arrival sometime the next day.

That glorious bit of news meant that he could sleep. Just not until tomorrow.

Mmmm, coffee, such a simple life-giving substance in a mug asking for nothing in return but a little of whatever sweetening substance the crew had located this month.

Wash walked over and grabbed his mug, filling it to the brim with a hot liquid that looked close enough to his intended target to satisfy his late night craving. Wearily walking over to the table he was about to sit down for a ten minute break when something odd caught his ear.

Music? At this time of night?

"It would appear I'm not alone, Mwahaha" Wash cackled from behind his steaming mug. "Yep, cackling over coffee is a sure sign of sleep deprivation, a sane man would probably be concerned. Wonder where I can find one of those at this hour?" Wash grinned to himself. "Well, seeing as I'm already disturbed in more than one way, may as well investigate"

Wandering down to the lounge Wash was surprised to find it empty, save a little music player that Kaylee had found during their last trip planetside and managed to coax into working again much to her joy and to Jayne's secret amusement though he would vehemently deny it if anyone guessed.

"That's odd!" Wash remarked brow crinkling in confusion. With all of the recent troubles the crew had been facing everyone was working hard to conserve resources, even something as small as a music player wouldn't be intentionally left on and unattended. "Who would break rationing, even with somethin' so tiny?"

Suddenly, Wash caught sight of a small flutter of movement out of the corner of his eye. Cautiously stepping forward, Wash's shoulder's sagged as he took in the sight before him. There before him was River Tam, curled into the corner behind a chair while shaking and muttering softly to herself in quiet panic.

"Gorram!" How long had the poor kid been hiding cowered in the corner, lost to whatever monsters which had currently decided to torment her? Moving forward slowly, Wash leaned over and turned off the radio. Almost imperceptibly, River stiffened at the music's sudden absence before showing the slightest hint of relaxing her rigidly shaking frame.

"River, honey? It's Wash. Care to tell me what's goin' on and why ya didn't come find me." Wash gently whispered to the agitated girl.

Wash ached at the sight of the terrified girl. He knew Simon had said relapses would be a regular and expected part of River's treatment and recovery but that knowledge didn't make it any less painful to watch as he helped the young girl he considered a sister of the heart suffer in silence.

Without looking up, River began to whisper "Came from nowhere. Supposed to be safe, supposed to be friends. They attacked me. The notes grew teeth, they sharpened their claws. Had to hide. Had to be safe but couldn't find sanctuary. They kept coming. They kept attacking." River looked up long enough for Wash to spot the tear stains marking her face, before hiding her face in the corner's shadows as her cracking voice trailed off into silence once again.

"Aww mei mei. Why didn't you get one of use to help? I would have fought beside you little one." Wash asked, aching at how much the young girl was hurting. Gingerly, he began moving closer to her while watching for cues that would mark an unwelcome approach in her vulnerable state.

"Everyone was busy. Too busy for me. Too busy to see them. No one ever sees. Everyone walks around with their eyes blind and their ears closed because it's safer that way. I'm alone because I have to see the voices demand a listener." River hiccupped as a quiet sob threatened to break free, yet still leaning toward the steadily approaching pilot.

Taking a chance, Wash closed the rest of the distance between them and wrapped the slight girl into a hug, releasing his breath only when she relaxed into his grip. "River, unless I'm off doing some sort of my usual heroics outmanoeuvring the Alliance or Reavers and looking utterly manly and dashing doin' it, never be afraid to come get me. Us pilots got to stick together. I mean not even our dear ol' captain can hold a candle to you. If you need me I'll come a'runnin'." Wash finished with a smile.

River hesitantly smiled back. "You are attempting to use humour to alleviate my anxiety and draw attention away from my discomfort."

"Is it working?"

"Yes. Thank you Wash." River replied just as softly as before still buried into the pilot's shoulder. "Wash?"

"Yes darling?"

"What if they come back?" River whispered hesitantly though remaining relaxed in the pilot's grasp.

Wash paused momentarily before scooping the young girl into his arms, coffee long cold and forgotten. "Then we'll chase them away again darlin'. This ain't an overnight battle. You're in the middle of a war up there in your mind but i'll tell ya a secret ya probably already know."

River quirked her eyebrow as Wash began carrying her up towards the bridge.

"You're never alone mei mei and when you're with your family no power in the verse can stop us." Wash carefully sat the young and now drowsy girl down on the co-pilot's seat before tucking her in with a blanket careful observers would note once held brightly coloured dinosaurs, now faded over decades of use. "For now sleep, while the stars and I stand guard."

With a final sigh, the young girl drifted off into an uneasy sleep while the pilot settled himself into his own seat for another long shift. By no means was River out of the woods yet. This had been a particularly bad attack and River often took a few days to even out after a night like this one. Perhaps when the crew had settled so would she. His young co-pilot had an uncanny sense regarding the crew's well-being as though she knew things before anyone could and lately even Simon was starting to look rumpled.

Whatever happened though, one thing was certain. Tonight he would honour his word and take up a higher duty than pilot becoming his mei mei's guardian among the stars, praying that she would find her way back to them once again.


End file.
